


i'll always be there for you

by orphan_account



Category: All Rise (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22619617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Relationships: Mark Callan & Lola Carmichael, Mark Callan/Lola Carmichael
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	i'll always be there for you

He was lazily lounged on the couch, a bowl of buttered popcorn perched onto of his lap, a lukewarm bottle of beer gripped firmly in his hand as his eyes cemented to the large flat screen television athwart from him. A game was playing, but he'd been absentmindedly zoning in and out for the past hour, halfway paying attention. He was too busy glancing at his cellphone that sat across from him on the coffee table, anxiously waiting for a responding text message from Lola. 

He texted and called a few times earlier, vocalizing his deepest laments about his shrouding comments that he made in regards to her relationship with her mother. Of course his intentions were innocent upon expressing them, all he was trying to do was give Lola a perspective on why her mother made those comments to the press in the first place. He didn't think when coming to her mother's defense that Lola would grow infuriated at him. While Mark knew that she could sometimes act on her emotions rather than be rational, it still upset him that they'd left off on a sour note.

She hadn't made any initiative to talk to him after he sullenly egressed from her office. Knowing Lola and her pride, he figured that he would give her a few hours to collectively gather her emotions in check before he spoke to her again. But as hours passed, the nighttime rolled around and she still had not called. 

Putting his emotions aside, Mark decided to call first. His efforts in trying to reach her were futile it was going on eleven o'clock at night and she still hadn't returned any of his texts. He hates this, always hated arguing with Lola especially when it pertained to her mother, a subject she was implicitly sensitive about. It took everything in his willpower not to drive over to her house. She was still clearly angry, the last thing he wanted was to show up unannounced only to get the door slammed in his face. 

So, unfortunately, all he could do was sit back and wait. _Wait, wait,_ “Hey,” Looking up, he sees Amy standing in the threshold of the living room, his buttoned down long sleeved shirt covered her small physique, draping loosely on her body, stopping just above her knees. Her hair was pulled in a loose bun, a worn smile tutted upward on her plaint lips. “I woke up and you weren't next to me.” She pouts, placating a mocking pained façade as she slowly gaitered over to him. 

“Yeah, sorry. Couldn't sleep so I decided to watch the game.” Mark explains, shifting the slouched position of his body to an upright perch and scooting over slightly, making room for her. 

Amy plopped down on the couch next to him, her small body instinctively chiseled against his, legs splaying lazily across his lap as she nuzzles her head against his chest. She hums inwardly in contentment. “It's okay. The bed was just cold and lonely without you in it with me.” She murmurs, her eyes fluttering close as she curls her body closer to his, ravishing in the soothing warmth that radiated from his body. 

Mark feels his body go taut. He craned his neck downwards a bit, glancing at a half-sleeping Amy. When he showed up at her house tonight, he didn't have the full intentions of sleeping with her. Sure, they'd gotten seemingly close over these past few weeks — simply because she was defending his father in his case. They'd always had a little rivalrous relationship but as weeks passed, he got to learn a little bit more about Amy. 

She was nice (on occasion) when she wasn't making haughty sarcastic comments and appeared to genuinely care about proving the innocence of his father. So when he came by to thank her, he was surprisingly amused when she grabbed ahold of the collars of his shirt and pulled him into a deep kiss. He hungrily reciprocated each of her feverish kisses, pressing his tongue inside of her mouth while his hands admired her physique. 

One thing lead to another and they were in her bedroom, hurriedly tugging off each other's clothes. After their salacious encounter, he laid in her bed with his thoughts seemingly wandering on Lola. He slipped his pants back over his hips and walked into the living room to watch tv. He would've left but he didn't want to come off as a sleaze who came for sex and left without even saying goodbye. Besides, it wasn't like he had anywhere better to be. 

All that was waiting on him was a lonely apartment and a bird he purchased after his breakup with Ria. But he never would've guessed that Amy was a post coital snuggler, let alone with him. She was always jokingly mocking him with snarky jokes he didn't think that she would be this _touchy_. It seemed weird because being like this, so close, snuggling after sex seemed so _intimate_. 

Intimacy frightened him. 

While Mark didn't regret having sex with Amy per se, he did regret the affects that were soon to come afterwards. He didn't know if this _thing_ was a one time deal or if she wanted more between them. He sincerely hoped that it was the former because the last thing he needed right now was to be in a relationship. 

Mark shifts his body again, trying to move his arm that had grown numb from her head laying on it. But she quickly pulled him back towards her and snuggled against his arm again. 

“Uh, Amy?” Mark begins, clearing this throat. He places a hand on her shoulders and gently shook her body, trying to wake her. “Amy?” He calls out again, this time with a increasing tenor of his voice when she didn't respond the first time. 

“Hey, I should probably–” His sentence is soon interjected when his phone buzzed, indicating that he had just received a message. Leaning forward, he sees that it's from Lola. He hastily unlocked the phone. 

_Lola_

_come over, please? I need you._

_Sent 2:45am_

He felt his heartbeat pulsate accruing against his ribcage as his eyes reread her text. Something about the way she texted him, _I need you_ made him instantly worry. She wouldn't have texted him that unless something was wrong. “Lola,” he whispers lowly. He didn't even send her a responding text, instead he quickly untwined his arm from Amy's vice grip and rose to his feet. 

The abrupt movement startled Amy, her eyes pried open. “Hey, what's going on? Where are you going?” She asks, rising to her feet and following in tow behind him as he walked into her bedroom. She stood with her eyebrows furrowed, hands perched on her small hips. “What's wrong, Mark?” She inquired, watching while he slipped his clothing back on. 

“Nothing, I just have to go somewhere.” He mutters. He vaguely waved at the shirt she was wearing, the nonverbal unmistakably asks her to take it off so he could put it back on. 

Amy shimmied the long sleeved shirt off of her shoulders and tossed it over to Mark. She raised a brow as she stood there only dressed in her underwear and bra. “Did something happen?” She worries, inwardly pondering if something happened with his father. 

Mark shakes his head, now sliding his feet through his shoes. “No. Vic is fine, I think. It's not him, okay? Just a friend needs me right now and I really have to go.” Gathering the remaining of his belongings, Mark walked towards the front door with Amy on his trail. 

“It's Lola, isn't it?” The accusatory tone of her shrilly voice causes him to slightly falter. He turns around, she glares at him with a knowing look. She scoffs wryly and shakes her head. “Wow,” She says, and he already _knows_ what she's insinuating, because Ria had suggested it too, along with all the other girls he previously dated. 

“We had an argument earlier. She just texted me saying that she needs me, okay? I have to go check up on her.” Mark says, not knowing why he was even explaining himself in the first place. It wasn't like he owed her one, they just hooked up it wasn't like they were in a relationship and he was sneakily seeing Lola behind her back. 

“At 2 in the morning?” She asks, narrowing another knowing glare at him. Mark sighs exasperatedly. 

Of course she didn't understand the depth of his and Lola's relationship, no one did. They were those type of best friends that would be there for the other in an instant, no matter what the given circumstance. He didn't expect Amy to get it, none of his other girlfriends did either. 

“I have to go but I'll see you around?” He doesn't even wait for her to respond, he's already walking out the door heading for his car. 

–

The drive over to Lola's was completely nerve wrecking, a different composite of emotions spurred throughout him. When he arrived, he could see a dim light pouring from the living room window. He turned off the ignition and took out his keys. 

Mark was walking up the driveway to get house when the front door opened, revealing a teary eyed Lola. “Hey, hey, what's wrong?” He whispers, wrapping a comforting around her when she fell into his arms, her body trembling as she sobbed softly against his shirt. 

Mark managed to prompt Lola into going back inside of the house. He leads her to the couch where they both sit down. She's snuggled against his chest, her tears dampening his shirt but he didn't seem to care, only silently sitting there allowing her to cry in his arms. When her tears subsided to low sniffles, Lola pulled away, chuckling lightly as she wiped her moist face with the back of her hands. 

“Ugh, sorry about your shirt.” She apologized, but he insouciantly waved it off. 

“This old thing?” He says, scoffing playfully, “Please. You actually did me a favor.”

Lola giggles, playfully rolling her eyes, though feeling grateful for his attempts at cheering her up. “Such a dork.” He grins cheekily at her comment. His face then settled into a serious countenance as he glanced over at her. 

“You okay, Lo?” He obviously knows that there's something wrong, because it was rare that Lola ever cried, but still he wanted to ease her into telling him why she was so upset in the first place.

Lola sniffles, apprehensively nibbled on her bottom lip as she stared down at her fingers, which she was currently twiddling with. 

“It's Robin,” She murmurs, and suddenly Mark's interest piqued increasingly. He didn't know what exactly made her so upset but the last thing he presumed was that it would be her husband. Mark remained silent, allowing her to continue her explanation. Lola inhaled a deep, shaky breath, “Well, you know how I told you that he's staying in DC so he can stay in the bureau, right?” 

Mark nods. “It's always been kinda hard, us communicating, you know with him being in a different state all of the time. Both of our schedules keep us so busy and I get it, he just got promoted but–I called him earlier and this woman answered the phone.”

“Oh, no. Lo.” Mark says sympathetically, shaking his head. “You know that Robin would never do that to you.” He attempts to reassure her. He had known Robin since he started dating Lola back in college, while he did have his cautious presumptions about him at first, Mark eventually concluded that if he would pick anyone to be with Lola, it would be Robin. He was a great guy and genuinely cared about Lola. 

“I know!” She says with an exasperated sigh, her hand quickly wiped away a few tears that began to fall. “But what else am I supposed to think? He hardly ever calls me anymore. I-I trust him, Mark I do. It's just I get so lonely sometimes.” She sullenly confesses, her voice in a sotto voce. 

Her admitting makes his heart heart. He knew that Lola had been struggling to adjust to the long term distance between her and Robin's marriage, but he hadn't known that she was feeling this despondent. She was always assuring him along with anyone who asked, that they were fine and that she was happy for him. Now, upon hearing this, he knows that it was simply a façade to hide her pain. He hates this, seeing her sad and crying. Always has. 

Because Lola was always the constant in his life, the person who always made him smile even when he was enduring a bad day. He felt awful knowing that there wasn't nothing he could to do reciprocate that favor for her. 

“I know it's hard, Lo and I wish that I could say something to help you feel better but believe me when I say that I know he wouldn't do that to you, okay? And I know it's lonely and I'm not Robin, but I am here for you. I always will be, no matter what. So whenever you're feeling lonely again, call me and I promise I will drop any and everything to be with you.” He says with a heartfelt sincerity, his hand gently rests ontop of hers. 

Lola smiles softly, nodding her head. “I know, that's why I love you.” She states before reaching forward and wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into an amicable embrace. Mark wound his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. He kisses the top of her head and smiles softly at her once they pull apart.

“I love you too.” When she began to apologize for getting upset with him at her office earlier, he quickly brushed it off. “Don't worry about it, Carmichael. I have already forgot why we argued in the first place.”

\- 

They stayed up, watching Star Trek movies on her couch while avidly munching down on some snacks they retrieved from her kitchen. They were awake most of the night, until Lola had seemingly fallen asleep. Her head was rested on his shoulders, light snores whistled through her nostrils, her face scrunched in this adorable pout that made him chuckle. He placed a kiss on her cheek before gently easing out of her embrace, laying her down onto the couch. He found a blanket and tossed it over her body. “Sweet dreams, Lola.” He whispered before quietly making his departure.

When he sees her in the courtroom the next morning, he smirks as he says, “I almost forgot how much you snore.” 

She mocks a playful offense as her footsteps fall in tandem with his as they walked towards the breakfast concession stand. “I do not snore!” 


End file.
